Crisp was a champion steeplechase horse. He was a bayThoroughbredgelding that was foaled in 1963 in Australia. In his native country, he won many important jumping races, particularly two-milers, including the Hiskens Steeplechase in 1969 and 1970. So well did he jump, he was nicknamed "The Black Kangaroo". However, Crisp is probably best remembered for his epic contest with Red Rum in the 1973 Grand National in England.

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Crisp made his British debut in a handicap race at Wincanton and was allotted 12 stone 7 pounds (79 kg). He was ridden by Richard Pitman, who would go on to ride Crisp for the majority of his racing life, including at the Grand National. Crisp won his debut race easily, by 15 lengths.[1]

His first major test was the 1971 Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival (now the Queen Mother Champion Chase). Once again, it was an easy victory.

The following year, Crisp's owner decided to run him in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, but the two-miler struggled in the three-and-a-quarter mile race, finishing fifth. Despite the setback, they aimed Crisp at the following year's Grand National, one of the world's most famous steeplechases, at Aintree near Liverpool.[1]

Before the off, Crisp was 9/1 joint-favourite with Red Rum to win the National.[2] However, by the time the runners had reached The Chair, Crisp, who was carrying the top weight of 12 stone (a weight that is now forbidden in the National), had already built up a significant lead and appeared unstoppable,[3] for much of the initial stages, his closest challenger was Bill Shoemark on Grey Sombrero, but that horse fell (fatally) at The Chair, gifting Crisp an even greater lead which had grown to 20 lengths by the end of the first circuit.[4]

Just a furlong to run now, 200 yards now for Crisp, and Red Rum is still closing on him! Crisp is getting very tired, and Red Rum is pounding after him. Red Rum is the one who's finishing the strongest. He's going to get up! Red Rum is going to win the National. At the line Red Rum has just snatched it from Crisp!

Jockey Pitman later recalled that at the Becher's Brook fence on the second circuit, fallen jockey David Nicholson shouted at him, "Richard, you're 33 lengths clear, kick on and you'll win!" At the same time, he heard the Tannoy commentator Michael O'Hehir declare, "And Red Rum is coming out of the pack, Brian Fletcher is kicking him hard!"[1]

At the 30th and final fence, Crisp was still 15 lengths ahead of Red Rum, who was ridden by Fletcher and given 10 stone, 5 lb by the handicapper. However, Crisp was beginning to tire badly on the 494-yard run-in, carrying 23 lb more than his nearest rival. Red Rum made up considerable ground, and two strides from the finishing post he pipped Crisp by three-quarters of a length to win his first of three Grand National titles.[3]

Even in defeat, Crisp had bettered the Grand National completion time by a full 20 seconds, a record that had stood for the 40 previous years.[1]

Despite Red Rum's unprecedented record in Grand Nationals and securing his place in British sporting history, the 1973 race is as much remembered for Crisp's run-in defeat as it was for Red Rum's narrow victory. Veteran commentator Jim McGrath called the battle between Red Rum and Crisp among the highlights of all Grand Nationals and said that Crisp was the unluckiest horse in the race's history.[5]

Crisp ran three times in the season after his second-place effort in the 1973 National, after a warm up race over hurdles at Wincanton he won a two and a half mile chase at Newbury beating two mile champion chaser Royal Relief. Then, at Doncaster, he had a match race, at level weights, against his old foe Red Rum, with a twenty three pound weight turnaround from Aintree, Crisp won by eight lengths, but injured himself in doing so, and was retired for the season.

Pitman, his jockey, said in a 2003 interview that following his retirement from racing, Crisp then hunted for the next eight seasons, he died out hunting, and was buried at the entrance of his then-owner's estate. A cherry tree was planted over the grave, which flowers at Grand National time.[1]

1.
Gelding
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A gelding is a castrated horse or other equine, such as a donkey or a mule. The gerund and participle gelding and the infinitive to geld refer to the procedure itself. The verb geld comes from the Old Norse gelda, from the adjective geldr, the noun gelding is from the Old Norse geldingr. The Scythians are thought to have been the first people to geld their horses, a male horse is often gelded to make him better-behaved and easier to control. Gelding can also remove lower-quality animals from the gene pool, ideally, horse breeders choose to leave only their best animals as stallions, lesser specimens are gelded, to improve the overall quality of the breed. To allow only the finest animals to breed on, while preserving adequate genetic diversity, mainstream sources place the percentage of stallions that should be kept as breeding stock at about 10%, while an extreme view states that only 0. 5% of all males should be bred. Geldings are preferred over stallions for working purposes because they are calmer, easier to handle, geldings are therefore a favorite for many equestrians. Geldings are often preferred over mares, because some mares become temperamental when in heat, also, the use of mares may be limited during the later months of pregnancy and while caring for a young foal. While this means the horse loses any breeding value, a track career can often be a boost to the value of the stallion that sired the gelding. Castration may allow a stallion to live peacefully with other horses, allowing a more social, under British National Hunt racing rules, to minimize the health and safety risk for horses, riders, and spectators, nearly all participating horses are geldings. On the other hand, in parts of Europe, geldings are excluded from many of the most prestigious flat races including the Classics. In North American Thoroughbred racing, geldings, if otherwise qualified by age, winnings, to perpetuate any given breed, some male horses must remain capable of reproduction. Thus, animals considered to be the finest representatives are kept as stallions, some cultures historically did not and still seldom geld male horses, most notably the Arabs. These people usually used mares for everyday work and for war, in these cultures, most stallions are still not used for breeding, only those of the best quality. When used as riding animals, they are kept only with or near other male horses in a bachelor setting. Sometimes cultural reasons for these practices exist, for example, castration of animals and humans was categorically forbidden in the Hebrew Bible and is prohibited in Jewish law. However, a number of horse owners are concerned that the process may cause pain for the animal or somehow lessen their vitality or spirit. While modern surgical procedures cause far less discomfort to the animal than more primitive methods, although castrations generally have few complications, there are risks

2.
Australia
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Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the worlds sixth-largest country by total area, the neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east, and New Zealand to the south-east. Australias capital is Canberra, and its largest urban area is Sydney, for about 50,000 years before the first British settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who spoke languages classifiable into roughly 250 groups. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades, and by the 1850s most of the continent had been explored, on 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. Australia has since maintained a liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy comprising six states. The population of 24 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard, Australia has the worlds 13th-largest economy and ninth-highest per capita income. With the second-highest human development index globally, the country highly in quality of life, health, education, economic freedom. The name Australia is derived from the Latin Terra Australis a name used for putative lands in the southern hemisphere since ancient times, the Dutch adjectival form Australische was used in a Dutch book in Batavia in 1638, to refer to the newly discovered lands to the south. On 12 December 1817, Macquarie recommended to the Colonial Office that it be formally adopted, in 1824, the Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known officially as Australia. The first official published use of the term Australia came with the 1830 publication of The Australia Directory and these first inhabitants may have been ancestors of modern Indigenous Australians. The Torres Strait Islanders, ethnically Melanesian, were originally horticulturists, the northern coasts and waters of Australia were visited sporadically by fishermen from Maritime Southeast Asia. The first recorded European sighting of the Australian mainland, and the first recorded European landfall on the Australian continent, are attributed to the Dutch. The first ship and crew to chart the Australian coast and meet with Aboriginal people was the Duyfken captained by Dutch navigator, Willem Janszoon. He sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in early 1606, the Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines and named the island continent New Holland during the 17th century, but made no attempt at settlement. William Dampier, an English explorer and privateer, landed on the north-west coast of New Holland in 1688, in 1770, James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain. The first settlement led to the foundation of Sydney, and the exploration, a British settlement was established in Van Diemens Land, now known as Tasmania, in 1803, and it became a separate colony in 1825. The United Kingdom formally claimed the part of Western Australia in 1828. Separate colonies were carved from parts of New South Wales, South Australia in 1836, Victoria in 1851, the Northern Territory was founded in 1911 when it was excised from South Australia

3.
Bay (horse)
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Bay is a hair coat color of horses, characterized by a reddish-brown body color with a black mane, tail, ear edges, and lower legs. Bay is one of the most common colors in many horse breeds. The black areas of a bay horses hair coat are called points, and without them. Black points may sometimes be covered by white markings, however such markings do not alter a horses classification as bay, bay horses have dark skin, except under white markings - where the skin is pink. Genetically, bay occurs when a horse carries both the Agouti gene and a base coat. The addition of genes creates many additional coat colors. While the basic concepts behind bay coloring are fairly simple, the genes themselves, the genetics of dark shades of bay are still under study. A DNA test said to detect the seal brown allele was developed, sooty genetics also appear to darken some horse bay coats, and that genetic mechanism is yet to be fully understood. Bay horses range in color from a copper red, to a rich red blood bay to a very dark red or brown called dark bay, mahogany bay, black-bay. The dark, brown shades of bay are referred to in other languages by words meaning black-and-tan. Dark bays/browns may be so dark as to have black coats, with brownish-red hairs visible only under the eyes, around the muzzle, behind the elbow. Dark bay should not be confused with Liver chestnut, which is also a dark brown color, but a liver chestnut has a brown mane, tail and legs. The pigment in a bay coat, regardless of shade, is rich. This makes bays particularly lustrous in the sun if properly cared for, some bay horses exhibit dappling, which is caused by textured, concentric rings within the coat. Dapples on a bay horse suggest good condition and care, though many well-cared for horses never dapple, the tendency to dapple may also be, to some extent, genetic. Bays often have a hair shaft, which, if shaved too closely, may cause the horse to appear several shades lighter. However, as the hair out, it will darken again to the proper shade. This phenomenon is part of bay color genetics, but usually not seen in shades of bay because there is less red in the hair shaft

4.
Queen Mother Champion Chase
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The Queen Mother Champion Chase is a Grade 1 National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. The race is scheduled to take each year during the Cheltenham Festival in March. It is the leading minimum-distance chase in the National Hunt calendar, the event was established in 1959, and it was originally called the National Hunt Two-Mile Champion Chase. It was given its present title in 1980 – the year of the Queen Mothers 80th birthday – in recognition of her support to jump racing. The Queen Mother was an owner of National Hunt horses, particularly chasers. The Queen Mother Champion Chase was not sponsored before 2007, the sponsor from 2011 until 2013 was online gambling firm Sportingbet. BetVictor held naming rights for the 2014 season before the current sponsor, sports betting company Betway,1 Chinrullah finished first in 1980, but he was subsequently disqualified after testing positive for a banned substance.2 The 2001 running was cancelled because of a foot-and-mouth crisis. A substitute race at Sandown was won by Edredon Bleu, horseracing in Great Britain List of British National Hunt races Recurring sporting events established in 1959 – this race is included under its original title, National Hunt Two-Mile Champion Chase. Pedigreequery. com – Queen Mother Champion Chase – Cheltenham, sportingchronicle. com – Queen Mother Champion Two Mile Steeple Chase Past Winners. The Breedon Book of Horse Racing Records

5.
Gainsborough Chase
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The Gainsborough Chase is a National Hunt handicap chase in England which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Sandown Park over a distance of 3 miles and ½ furlong, the race was first run in 1954 and in the sixties was won three times by Mill House. The Gainsborough Chase name was dropped in 1991, when the race was renamed the Agfa Diamond Chase, Agfa sponsored the race until 2007. The race last carried Grade 2 status in 1997 and in recent years it has become a normal Class B handicap,1 The 1985 edition was a walkover

6.
Steeplechase
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A steeplechase is a distance horse race in which competitors are required to jump diverse fence and ditch obstacles. Steeplechasing is primarily conducted in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Canada, United States, Australia, modern usage of the term steeplechase differs between countries. In Ireland and the United Kingdom, it only to races run over large, fixed obstacles. The collective term jump racing or National Hunt racing is used referring to steeplechases. Elsewhere in the world, steeplechase is used to refer to any race that involves jumping obstacles. The most famous steeplechase in the world is the Grand National run annually at Aintree Racecourse, in Liverpool, since its inception in 1836, which in 2014 offered a prize fund of £1 million. The steeplechase originated in Ireland in the 18th century as an analogue to cross-country thoroughbred horse races which went from church steeple to church steeple, an account of the race was believed to have been in the library of the OBriens of Dromoland Castle. Most of the earlier steeplechases were contested cross-country rather than on a track, the first recorded steeplechase over a prepared track with fences was run at Bedford in 1810, although a race had been run at Newmarket in 1794 over a mile with five-foot bars every quarter mile. The first recognised English National Steeplechase took place on Monday 8 March 1830, the 4-mile race, organised by Thomas Coleman of St Albans, was run from Bury Orchard, Harlington in Bedfordshire to the Obelisk in Wrest Park, Bedfordshire. The winner was Captain Macdowall on The Wonder, owned by Lord Ranelagh, report of the event appeared in the May and July editions of Sporting Magazine in 1830. In Great Britain and Ireland, steeplechase only refers to one branch of jump racing, collectively, Great Britain and Ireland account for over 50% of all jump races worldwide, carding 4,800 races over fences in 2008. Jump racing in Great Britain and Ireland is officially known as National Hunt racing, French jump racing is similar to British and Irish National Hunt races, with a few notable differences. Hurdles are not collapsible, being akin to small brush fences. Chases often have large fences called bullfinches, a large hedge up to 8 ft tall that horses have to jump rather than over. There are also a number of cross-country chases where horses have to jump up and down banks, gallop through water. Auteuil in Paris is perhaps the best known racecourse in France for French jump racing, the Velká pardubická Steeplechase in Pardubice in the Czech Republic is the location of one of the longest steeplechase races in Europe. The first Velka Pardubice Steeplechase was held on 5 November 1874, in the United States, there are two forms of steeplechasing, hurdle and timber. National fences stand 52 inches tall at the highest point, but are made of synthetic brush that can be brushed through

7.
Thoroughbred
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The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, Thoroughbreds are considered hot-blooded horses that are known for their agility, speed, and spirit. The Thoroughbred as it is today was developed in 17th- and 18th-century England, when native mares were crossbred with imported Oriental stallions of Arabian, Barb. Millions of Thoroughbreds exist today, and around 100,000 foals are registered each year worldwide, Thoroughbreds are used mainly for racing, but are also bred for other riding disciplines such as show jumping, combined training, dressage, polo, and fox hunting. Thoroughbred racehorses perform with maximum exertion, which has resulted in high accident rates, other health concerns include low fertility, abnormally small hearts and a small hoof-to-body-mass ratio. There are several theories for the reasons behind the prevalence of accidents and health problems in the Thoroughbred breed, the typical Thoroughbred ranges from 15.2 to 17.0 hands high, averaging 16 hands. They are most often bay, dark bay or brown, chestnut, black, less common colors recognized in the United States include roan and palomino. White is very rare, but is a recognized color separate from gray, the face and lower legs may be marked with white, but white will generally not appear on the body. Coat patterns that have more than one color on the body, good-quality Thoroughbreds have a well-chiseled head on a long neck, high withers, a deep chest, a short back, good depth of hindquarters, a lean body, and long legs. Thoroughbreds are classified among the breeds, which are animals bred for agility and speed and are generally considered spirited. These artificial dates have been set to enable the standardization of races, the Thoroughbred is a distinct breed of horse, although people sometimes refer to a purebred horse of any breed as a thoroughbred. The term for any horse or other animal derived from a breed line is purebred. Nonetheless, breeders of other species of purebred animals may use the two terms interchangeably, though thoroughbred is less used for describing purebred animals of other species. The term is a noun referring to this specific breed, though often not capitalized, especially in non-specialist publications. For example, the Australian Stud Book, The New York Times, flat racing existed in England by at least 1174, when four-mile races took place at Smithfield, in London. Racing continued at fairs and markets throughout the Middle Ages and into the reign of King James I of England. It was then that handicapping, a system of adding weight to attempt to equalize a horses chances of winning as well as improved training procedures, during the reigns of Charles II, William III, Anne, and George I, the foundation of the Thoroughbred was laid. Under James grandson, Charles II, a keen racegoer and owner, and James great-granddaughter Queen Anne, royal support was given to racing and the breeding of race horses

8.
Red Rum
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Red Rum was a champion Thoroughbred steeplechaser. He achieved an historic treble when he won the Grand National in 1973,1974 and 1977. The Grand National is a difficult race that has been described as the ultimate test of a horse’s courage. He was also renowned for his ability, having not fallen in 100 races. The 1973 race in which Red Rum secured his victory from 30 lengths behind is often considered one of the greatest Grand Nationals in history. In a 2002 UK poll, Red Rums historic third triumph in the Grand National was voted the 24th greatest sporting moment of all time, Red Rum was bred at Rossenarra stud in Kells, County Kilkenny, Ireland, by Martyn McEnery. His sire was Quorum, and his dam Mared, Mared was a grand-daughter of the broodmare Batika, whose other descendants have included the Irish 2000 Guineas winner Turtle Island. McEnery gave Red Rum his name by taking the last three letters of the names of his dam and sire respectively, bred to win one-mile races, he won his National titles over the longest distance, four miles and four furlongs. Red Rum started his running in cheap races as a sprinter and dead-heated in his first race. He ran another seven times as a two-year-old winning over 7f at Warwick, in his early career, he was twice ridden by Lester Piggott. The comedian Lee Mack, then a boy, had his first riding lesson on Red Rum. Galloping through sea water may have proved beneficial to Red Rum’s hooves. McCain also won the Grand National in 2004 with Amberleigh House,31 years after his first victory with Red Rum. At the 1973 Grand National, Red Rum beat the Australian chaser Crisp, Crisp led the field virtually all the way in that years National in which he was 30 lengths clear, and at the last fence was 15 lengths clear of Red Rum, his nearest pursuer. He added, I felt as though I was tied to a line with an express train thundering up. A year later, Red Rum retained his title at the 1974 National, again, Red Rum saved his best for Aintree but was held off by Rag Trade. The following year, Stack rode the 12-year-old Red Rum to his record third Grand National triumph, in what is regarded as one of the greatest moments in horse racing history. Red Rum was prepared for an attempt at the Grand National the season following his 1977 win

9.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years

10.
Wincanton Racecourse
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Wincanton Racecourse is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located in Wincanton, Somerset, England. The steeplechase fences are large, making it a good test of a chaser, three fences in quick succession in the second half of the home-straight make for exciting racing and often change the complexion of a finish dramatically, resulting in a great many close finishes. The track stages several big races, including the Kingwell Hurdle in February, the CGA Chase was run on the same day, these races were significant trials for the Champion Hurdle and Cheltenham Gold Cup respectively. Several of the races at the course were shown on Channel 4, the track is located near to the yard of the trainer, Paul Nicholls and as such many of his young horses run here. During the year to 2008, the course had the second highest casualty rate in the country, with 9 deaths

11.
Cheltenham Gold Cup
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The race is scheduled to take place each year during the Cheltenham Festival in March. The steeplechase, which is open to horses aged five years and over, is the most prestigious of all National Hunt events and its roll of honour features the names of such chasers as Arkle, Best Mate, Golden Miller, Kauto Star and Mill House. The Gold Cup is the most valuable non-handicap chase in Britain, Timico also offered an increase of £25,000 to reach a total of £575,000 prize money for the 2016 Gold Cup renewal. The 2015 Cheltenham Gold Cup was won for the first time in over 40 years by a novice, the first horse race known as the Cheltenham Gold Cup took place in July 1819. It was a race, and it was contested over 3 miles on Cleeve Hill. The inaugural winner, Spectre, won a prize of 100 guineas for his owner Mr Bodenham, the Cheltenham Gold Cup was first run as a jumps race on 12 March 1924. The race was covered by Pathe News, a prize of £685 was awarded to the owner of the winning horse. The event originally took place on what is now the Old Course at Cheltenham. In its early years it was overshadowed at the Festival by another race, the Gold Cup was abandoned in 1931 and 1937, but the five intervening years saw the emergence of the most successful horse in the events history. All five races from 1932 to 1936 were won by Golden Miller, during World War II the Gold Cup was cancelled twice, in 1943 and 1944. The first multiple winner of the years was Cottage Rake. Cottage Rake was trained in Ireland by Vincent OBrien, and his successes helped to popularise the Gold Cup, the Gold Cup was switched to the New Course in 1959, and this is now the regular track used for the event. In the mid-1960s the race was dominated by Arkle, who won three consecutive runnings from 1964 to 1966, such was Arkles perceived superiority before the last of these victories that he was given a starting price of 1/10. He remains the shortest-priced winner in the races history, the first commercial sponsorship of the race was by Piper Champagne, which began supporting the event in 1972. The Tote became the sponsor in 1980, the 1986 winner, Dawn Run, is the only horse to have ever won both this race and the leading hurdle event, the Champion Hurdle. One of the most popular horses to win the Gold Cup was Desert Orchid, the following years running was won by Nortons Coin, whose starting price of 100/1 represents the races longest ever winning price. The entire Cheltenham Festival was cancelled in 2001 because of an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, the next three runnings were all won by Best Mate, who is the most recent of the four horses to have won the race three or more times. In 2009, Kauto Star became the first horse to regain the Gold Cup and he overcame his stablemate and conqueror in 2008, Denman, who had recovered from a heart condition to take his place in the race

12.
Aintree Racecourse
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Aintree Racecourse is a racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England. The racecourse is best known for holding the world-famous Grand National steeplechase. The course is home of the Grand National steeplechase, one of the most famous races in the world, prior to the event being held at Aintree, the race was run in the nearby district of Maghull. Steeplechasing at Aintree was introduced in 1839, though flat racing had taken there for many years prior to this. It is regarded as the most difficult of all courses to complete successfully, with 16 steeplechase fences including renowned obstacles the Chair, Foinavon, Valentines, Canal Turn and these are so infamous that even their names strike fear into the most professional of jockeys. All fences bar the water jump are covered with spruce, unlike at any other course in British National Hunt racing, four other races take place over the National fences. These are the Topham Chase and the Fox Hunters Chase at the Grand National meeting, within the large National course there is also the smaller Mildmay course containing hurdles and fences. These fences are made of traditional National Hunt material, the National and Mildmay courses used to share the water jump, but the water jump is no longer used on the Mildmay course. The Grand National race is run over 4 miles 514 yards after being re-measured by the BHA in 2015, the race is considered among the most demanding steeplechases in the world. The lead has often changed hands during the 494-yard run-in after the final fence, there are usually 40 horses taking part in the race but fewer than ten may in fact complete the course. In 1928,42 horses started and only two finished the course, the record for the most victories in the Grand National is held by Red Rum, who won three times in the 1970s, in addition to coming second twice. Aintree has also used as a venue for motor racing. The British Grand Prix was staged there on five occasions, in 1955,1957,1959,1961 and 1962. The only driver to have competed in horse and motor race is Alfonso de Portago, who competed at the Grand National in his early days as well as in a sportscar race. He was to compete at the 1957 British Grand Prix at Aintree, michael Jackson concluded the European leg of his 1987–1989 Bad World Tour at the venue on 11 September 1988, to more than 125,000 people. McFly performed for the Liverpool Summer Pops in 2005, P. nk performed at the venue during her Im Not Dead Tour on 16 July 2007. Kaiser Chiefs and The Chemical Brothers performed in concert at Aintree Pavilion as part of Liverpool Music Week 2007, the racecourse contains a 9-hole golf course and driving range within its boundaries. Golfers have the chance to see the track from a different perspective

13.
Liverpool
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Liverpool is a major city and metropolitan borough in North West England.24 million people in 2011. Liverpool historically lay within the ancient hundred of West Derby in the south west of the county of Lancashire and it became a borough from 1207 and a city from 1880. In 1889 it became a county borough independent of Lancashire, Liverpool sits on the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary and its growth as a major port is paralleled by the expansion of the city throughout the Industrial Revolution. Along with general cargo, freight, raw materials such as coal and cotton, the city was also directly involved in the Atlantic slave trade. Liverpool was home to both the Cunard and White Star Line, and was the port of registry of the ocean liner RMS Titanic and others such as the RMS Lusitania, Queen Mary, and Olympic. The city celebrated its 800th anniversary in 2007, and it held the European Capital of Culture title together with Stavanger, Norway, several areas of Liverpool city centre were granted World Heritage Site status by UNESCO in 2004. The Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City includes the Pier Head, Albert Dock, tourism forms a significant part of the citys economy. Liverpool is also the home of two Premier League football clubs, Liverpool and Everton, matches between the two being known as the Merseyside derby, the world-famous Grand National horse race takes place annually at Aintree Racecourse on the outskirts of the city. The city is home to the oldest Black African community in the country. Natives of Liverpool are referred to as Liverpudlians and colloquially as Scousers, a reference to scouse, the word Scouse has also become synonymous with the Liverpool accent and dialect. Pool is a place name element in England from the Brythonic word for a pond, inlet, or pit, cognate with the modern Welsh. The derivation of the first element remains uncertain, with the Welsh word Llif as the most plausible relative and this etymology is supported by its similarity to that of the archaic Welsh name for Liverpool Llynlleifiad. Other origins of the name have suggested, including elverpool. The name appeared in 1190 as Liuerpul, and it may be that the place appearing as Leyrpole, in a record of 1418. King Johns letters patent of 1207 announced the foundation of the borough of Liverpool, the original street plan of Liverpool is said to have been designed by King John near the same time it was granted a royal charter, making it a borough. The original seven streets were laid out in an H shape, Bank Street, Castle Street, Chapel Street, Dale Street, Juggler Street, Moor Street, in the 17th century there was slow progress in trade and population growth. Battles for the town were waged during the English Civil War, in 1699 Liverpool was made a parish by Act of Parliament, that same year its first slave ship, Liverpool Merchant, set sail for Africa. Since Roman times, the city of Chester on the River Dee had been the regions principal port on the Irish Sea